Torque Wrench Confusion (kinda long)

[granit_silber]

So I wandered in to my local Sears today to scope out a torque wrentch.
After finally finding someone who worked in the tool department, I asked where the torque wrentches were. He "politely" pionted me to the back of the store in a manner that said "I don't have time for customers."

Sensing he apparent frustration with me, I decided to push him over the edge by actually asking a question. I asked if he knew the diffence between a beam-style wrench and the standard or non-beam style wrench

For a few seconds he looked at me the way I look at women who bring a hairdryer on a two week hike. Then spouted off "you need to know this, and , this, and this. When you figure that out come back."

So now that I look like an idiot already, doesn't hurt to ask you what I need to know. This whole episode started because one of you, in an earlier post, said not to buy the beam style wrench because they go out of calibration; so I hoping that you'll help me out. :)

Here are the questions...

I saw two types of wrenches this afternoon. One had the settings in the handle and operated like a cordless drill's adjustable clutch. The second type had a large scale on the front with number on it, and a big arm that came off the main section of the wrench. This arm pointed at the numbers and you stopped pulling when it reaches your goal.

1st question:
Which one is the one NOT to buy????? The prices were $80-90 for the numbers in the handle kind and $30 for the weird scale record player kind. I suspect I know the answer, but need confirmation

2nd question:
Need to know what torque range I need (i.e. 0-75, 0-85, 0-150, etc)

3rd question:
What size "head" do I want? (3/8, 1/2, etc..)

4th question:
Foot Pounds or inches??

5th question:
Is there anything else I should know before I bust up into Jr.'s world? (not JR///M5 :) )

Thanks,
-ashley "the torque wrench virgin "

[Mr Project]

What are you planning on working on? For lug nuts and such, a 0-150 is usually good, with a 1/2 drive head. For 'normal' bolts, a 0-80 is good, and for oil pans and valve covers, you'll want an inch-pounds wrench.

[winfred]

that about covers it, the click type doesn't requier you to pay much attention to it, you need to look at the beam type which isn't allways conveinant to see when to stop pulling

[Bill R.]

one you want with the handle that screws in or out to change the torque setting and its marked on the handle as you rotate it like a micrometer..for what you are probably going to use it for the cheapo ones at harbor freight are going to be just as accurate for all intents and purposes. For torquing lug nuts and such i only use a cheapo one. The better cheapo click type will let you torque in either direction for those rare occasions when you have to torque a reverse thread or when you want to see just how much torque it takes to break something loose that you think is overtorqued...












So I wandered in to my local Sears today to scope out a torque wrentch.
After finally finding someone who worked in the tool department, I asked where the torque wrentches were. He "politely" pionted me to the back of the store in a manner that said "I don't have time for customers."

Sensing he apparent frustration with me, I decided to push him over the edge by actually asking a question. I asked if he knew the diffence between a beam-style wrench and the standard or non-beam style wrench

For a few seconds he looked at me the way I look at women who bring a hairdryer on a two week hike. Then spouted off "you need to know this, and , this, and this. When you figure that out come back."

So now that I look like an idiot already, doesn't hurt to ask you what I need to know. This whole episode started because one of you, in an earlier post, said not to buy the beam style wrench because they go out of calibration; so I hoping that you'll help me out. :)

Here are the questions...

I saw two types of wrenches this afternoon. One had the settings in the handle and operated like a cordless drill's adjustable clutch. The second type had a large scale on the front with number on it, and a big arm that came off the main section of the wrench. This arm pointed at the numbers and you stopped pulling when it reaches your goal.

1st question:
Which one is the one NOT to buy????? The prices were $80-90 for the numbers in the handle kind and $30 for the weird scale record player kind. I suspect I know the answer, but need confirmation

2nd question:
Need to know what torque range I need (i.e. 0-75, 0-85, 0-150, etc)

3rd question:
What size "head" do I want? (3/8, 1/2, etc..)

4th question:
Foot Pounds or inches??

5th question:
Is there anything else I should know before I bust up into Jr.'s world? (not JR///M5 :) )

Thanks,
-ashley "the torque wrench virgin "

[632 Regal]

Get a COBALT from home depot, made by snalop, costs like 100 bux and last time I checked mine it was within 1 lb

[Rigmaster]

The Beam type do not generally need to be recalibrated- the "clicker" type are supposed to be calibrated on a regular basis- though it's hard to find a place in most cities to get it calibrated for less than the cost of a new wrench!!

FYI- the Craftsman torque wrenches are NOT covered by their handtool lifetime warranty- read the fine print on the package- I think it's a 1 year warranty.

I have a 1/2" drive Craftsman clicker type wrench- use it mostly for headbolts and lugbolts- the other less important stuff gets tightened by feel. I also have a couple of the el-cheapo 1/2" drive wrenches- 2 of them are broken and I use them as breaker bars- the 3rd one is calibrated almost exactly the same as the craftsman.

I would recommend getting a 1/2" drive el-cheapo (should be ~$20 or so)- unless you are doing LOTS of critical fastener tightening. You can check it occasionally against someone else's wrench, just to see if they are close. Even the best clicker type wrench is going to have a bit of variance.

Bret.

[winfred]

the home user is not really going to wear out the calibration on a clicker, my dial type 175lb snap on torque-o-meter last rebuilt in 97 finally needed to be rebuilt a few months ago at the cost of $40 by snap on. i also have a 250# proto that i love and a matco 125# (don't like the adjustment feature on that one) both clickers

[granit_silber]

Thanks for all of the info so far. Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I was out of my office all afternoon.

Mr. Project asked what I was going to do with the wrenches.
I want to begin working on my car. I'll start with oil changes and progress from there. When my car needs it, I want to change out the control arms, shocks and all that.

For now, I need the wrenches for my lugnuts; later I guess I'll need them to do work on the engine (not major stuff like head work, etc)

So which ones do I buy?
-ashley

[Rigmaster]

My opinion: Buy one of the cheap ones- 1/2" drive that covers 0-100 or 0-150 ft-lbs. That will cover lug bolts. The engine stuff does not really require a torque wrench except things like headbolts, etc- which sounds like you won't be doing, and if you decide to do them- this wrench will cover them.

In my opinion, you don't need a small "in-lbs" wrench to do things like valve cover nuts and other small fasteners- as long as you don't put the gorilla arm on them!!

Bret.



Thanks for all of the info so far. Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I was out of my office all afternoon.

Mr. Project asked what I was going to do with the wrenches.
I want to begin working on my car. I'll start with oil changes and progress from there. When my car needs it, I want to change out the control arms, shocks and all that.

For now, I need the wrenches for my lugnuts; later I guess I'll need them to do work on the engine (not major stuff like head work, etc)

So which ones do I buy?
-ashley

[Bill R.]

5 days a week almost every week for the last 32 years. Winfred and possibly Brett use one a fair amount of time too... Unless you're going to use it every day then you're absolutely throwing money away on any torque wrench over 20 dollars. Period The cheap ones from harbor freight for 9.99 have guaranteed accuracy to 4% and carry a lifetime warranty on the wrench... Once upon a time i bought nothing but snap on tools but as i've aged and hopefully gotten wiser i've realized that they are uneeded for 90% of what i do and i'm wasting money getting them for jobs that don't absolutely require snapon quality. For the last 15 years I haven't purchased any snap on sockets since sears , husky , proto etc are just as good a quality nowdays provided you get the right tools that they make. In purchasing combination wrenches i would not buy cheap tools such as harbor freight, in that case i would buy the craftsmen professional , snapon , proto etc.. since their pro line wrenches are a little stronger with tighter specs that allow you to get a wrench into places that the cheapos won't fit. Here's a link to the 9.99 special at harbor freight that i'm talking abouttorque wrench (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=239)

[granit_silber]

Unless you're going to use it every day then you're absolutely throwing money away on any torque wrench over 20 dollars. Period

Thanks everybody. I appreciate the response. I'm going grab the $10 wrench and use my tool money elsewhere. To be honest I was really hoping that I wasn't going to have to shell out $100 for a torque wrench.

I really know almost nothing about the mechanics of an engine. I understand the theories and how it works, but have always wanted to be able to do basic to intermediate fixes and maintaince on my own. So when you ask what I'm going to do, I really can't answer; except to say that I have very knowledgeable friends (on the board and at home), and I can't afford to go to a shop for every repair ($400 for T-stat replacement). So I'll be learning on the fly, and most likely break some important stuff along the way. :)

Thanks Again!
-ashley

[Bill R.]

torque wrench to tighten every bolt and nut on the car...As Brett mentioned for most of the general repairs you have a torque spec such as water pump bolts , thermostat etc.. but if you try to torque all these with a torque wrench i can guarantee that you'll snap some bolts,studs or pull some threads out of the block... tightening a bolt to the correct torque is something that most mechanics have developed by feel over the years and most of them don't need to a torque wrench to get very close to the specified torque on bolts and nuts with a torque of less than 25 ft.lbs... you just have to practice first to tell how tight a bolt should be... If you haven't done much tightening of bolts in the past then i suggest you find something not on the car with some bolts that you can tighten to a low torque with your new torque wrench and then take just a plain ratchet and socket and put on the newly torqued bolt and see how tight that actually is so that you can get a feel for how tight a bolt should be... otherwise your first experiences at tightening bolts and nuts on a car are going to involve breaking and/or stripping lotsa small bolts and nuts...
This is not intended as critical just stating facts as i see them for anybody who hasn't used tools much.








Thanks everybody. I appreciate the response. I'm going grab the $10 wrench and use my tool money elsewhere. To be honest I was really hoping that I wasn't going to have to shell out $100 for a torque wrench.

I really know almost nothing about the mechanics of an engine. I understand the theories and how it works, but have always wanted to be able to do basic to intermediate fixes and maintaince on my own. So when you ask what I'm going to do, I really can't answer; except to say that I have very knowledgeable friends (on the board and at home), and I can't afford to go to a shop for every repair ($400 for T-stat replacement). So I'll be learning on the fly, and most likely break some important stuff along the way. :)

Thanks Again!
-ashley

[DaCan23]

This is the one I have $60 from HD

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1829671812.1108139661@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddadddleehldkcgelceffdfgidgkk.0&MID=9876

It's pretty nice, does 20-100 ft lbs, and has the readings from NM or Ft Lbs.

Figured I'd never need anything under 20 ft lbs. Need at least 100 ft lbs as the torque for lug nuts should be ~95 lbs

W/ this style it is very very important to return the dial to 0 when storing. DO NOT leave it twisted to any setting.

It's a 3/8 drive, and if I need it in a 1/2 situtaiton it's ok to use a converter as long as it's not a bendable one.

The case is a nice little feature
Of course it's always funny w/ working w/ my dad the mechanic. Many times when working on my car I'll go to get the torque wrench and he's already tightened something and I'm like what the heck and he says after 40 yrs of doing this he can hand tighten a nut to within a pound or two... lol

[DaCan23]

Oh yeah I believe this qualifys for HD's lifetime warranty on tools...

[winfred]

oh yea, i love some of these readings they quote for small bolts, i think i've found over 10# listed for 10mm (6mm shank) bolts going into aluiminum for some cars, in your dreams :D


but if you try to torque all these with a torque wrench i can guarantee that you'll snap some bolts,studs or pull some threads out of the block.

[granit_silber]

This is not intended as critical just stating facts as i see them for anybody who hasn't used tools much.

Bill,
Didn't say THAT lol.

I just haven't ever worked on a car before.
Don't worry about my tightening every bolt on the car, I live by the if it ain't broke don't fix it motto.

-ashley

[DaCan23]

Oh yea, I snapped a bolt holding in one of my coils... cant remember the specs, but yes tryin to torque every bolt gets ya in trouble... 10-20lbs is sooooo much lighter than ya think...

[ScottyWM]

Just a FYI... Torque wrenches are most accurate at the center of their range, not accurate at all at the low side of their range. So selecting the proper range torque wrench will help a lot. For example you wouldn't want to use a big (50Nm) wrench on a low torque (<5Nm) application. Better to have a range of cheap ones for the home mechanic type stuff. (I calibrate stuff like this for a living... such as it is...) I just replaced a $400 dial torque wrench with a $1300 digital one this week at work.